Pant type garment



FeB. 10, 1948. H. L. REIDMYOND 1 I PANT TYPE GARMENT 2 Sheets- Shee't 1 Q IN VE 0R.

Feb. 10, 1948. H. L. REDMOND PANT TYPE GARMENT Filed Feb. 24, 1945 2 SheetS-Sheet'Z Ma i?! 'mg I? Patented Feb. 10, 1948 PANT TYPE GARMENT Harriet L. Redmond, Boston, Mass., assignor to The William Carter Company,

Needham Heights, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 24, 1945, Serial No. 579,599

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to garments and particularly to pant type garments such as infants and children's garments of the training pantie ype.

The invention is concerned with the construction of such garments and provides a better fitting garment procured, surprisingly, by a construction which entails a substantial saving in material without sacrifice in commercially essential features of comfort and freedom from undue restraint during activity of the wearer. saving of material has two aspects. First, the actual square inch area or weight of material in the garment is substantially reduced for equivalent waistline size of garment; and second, in multiple production, the total yardage or weight of stock (including wastage) used per dozen garments in corresponding age size is substantially reduced. A labor cost saving is also obtained at least in multiple production, by reason of the method of cutting the novel garment of this invention from stock, such as tubular knit inelastic yarn material of the kind ordinarily used in the manufacture of training pantie type garments.

These and other advantages of the construction will be further described herein in, connection with a description of the novel construction as exemplified by the garment shown in the accompanying drawings wherein Fig. l is a front view of the garment;

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the garment;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of'parts used to make up the garment, intended to show the relation of these parts and illustrating by a dotted line showing a fold in one part of the garment made during assembly of the garment;

Fig. 4 illustrates a pattern useful in cutting main sections of the garment, the pattern being laid out on suitable tubular fabric, and the whole being shown broken away centrally;

Fig. 5 is a similar view of a pattern for cuttin sidesections of the garment; and

Figs. 6 and '7 arediagrammatic showings of the relative dimensions of garments constructed with and without my invention, respectively.

The garment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is of the legless type and comprises essentially a fourpiece garment plus accessory parts including leg opening trim and waist fastening means. The four main parts consist of a central front-toback panel H1, in single or multiple thickness, side panels l2 and I4 and a front waistband 16. The accessories include leg opening trim l8, and in-' ternalfacing 20 for the waistband l6, and an The 2 elastic band extending around the waistline from one side of the front waistband Hi to the other side of the waistband Hi. All these parts excent the elastic band are illustrated in unassembled relation in Fig. 3, panel l0 being shown as internally faced with a co-extensive facing 22.

The panel I0 is stitched along the seams 3|], 3| in front to side panels l2 and M respectively and is seamed at the rear along seams 32 and 33 to the rear edges of side panels I2 and I4 respectively. Leg opening trim l8 may then be stitched around the openings defined by the side panels 12 and I4 and the central panel In. The

front waistband is of the usual construction comprising an outer ply of knit material faced in-' temally with a ply 20 of material, such as woven fabric, which is non-stretchable in both directions. The composite waistband is stitched to panel 10 along seam 35. An elastic band runs through the rear and side hems of the garment, being anchored in front usually at points 36 and 31 adjacent the side edges of the front panel IS. The waistline edges of side panels I2 and I4 and the rear waistline edge of central panel l0 are gathered to allow for suitable expansion 0f the fabric when the elastic band is stretched during donning and doiiing of the garment.

The garment is made from the exception of the facing 20 and the fit and comfort of the garment are based upon a. particular construction which relies upon the capacity of such knit material to stretch substantially more in a direction across the wales of the material than in a direction along the length of the wales.

I have found that if primary consideration be given, in garments of the type herein involved, to the minimum trunkwise dimension of the garment when tensioned vertically, comfort and knit material with freedom from crotch binding is assured. The

minimum trunkwise dimension of the non-tensioned garment can then be made much less than that found in present-day garments with the result that the garment fits more snugly when the fabric is relaxed and avoids the unsightly "droopy drawers effect encountered in the case of non-trouser wearing infants.

The garment of this invention illustrated in the drawings has, in combination with side panels l2 and M having wales running in a vertical trunkwise direction imparting lateral stretchability in the areas of these side panels, a continuous central panel or gore, in single or multiple thickness, extending from the front waistband, preferably in one-piece construction, through the crotch and to the waistline at the rear of the garment, the material of such panel having its wales extending in a lateral direction imparting vertical stretchability to the garment and the panel being preferably of such lateral width front and back that the garment has a trunkwise stretchabil 'ity along-5 its medial line: limited substantially only by the coursewise stretchability of the fabric of the central panel.

Thus, as shown in the drawings and as indicated by the lines and arrows, the central panel. til has-- its wales running laterally of the garment so that the material has great :stretchability'along:

the direction of the arrows. The front and bacli lateral dimensions of panel I-IFare also sufficient to permit medial trunkwisestretch.si-i-bstantiallyto the limit of the coursewise stretch of the material, unhampered by side panels I2 and-I" M-or.

seams 30 and 3|.

Major? advantages, result. Fi-rst,' the trunkw-ise length of the garment may bezrestrictedsothat.

less than in garmentsnot provided with: this.

capacity for trun-kwise: stretch.

Since knit material: of the type used-in these garments is cut: while it. is: intrelaxed position it will be seen: that. afurther important advantage is that'substantial saving of material; is afforded,- equvalcnt' to the amount of material represent.- ing the red'uctionin trunk'lengthzin relaxed'non tensioned positions. of." the garment.. This difference hasbeen. found. insizes: 1-, 2,; 3; 4,6 and 8 to run from about inch: to 1' inch which, doubled tori front; and. rear amounts: to. 1- /2; to 2 inches saving in length. per: each: centralw panel. For materials of equivalent weight in the two forms of garment this, saying. amounts to as much. as -20% by weight; of material in the. garment. as a whole, when the centralpanel includes an. internal co -extensive facing; 22, making. a double thickness central panel IE and the-width of. the panel 'in' front: is asshown substantially that: of the: front waistband: and taken with the width of the panel I0 in back makes up more; than one-half the. circumference of; thegarment; near the waistline;

Furthermore; inx multiple; manufacture; the

central panels til. and; internal. facings 22 may; be cutfrom tubular: knit:.material such as: Q-filron a'pattern as illustrated: atJFig; 4.. Because: of the cuttingof the panels crosswise;- of the; tubular material; the-panels arenotz cutz on: thez fold, and tli'e-step-ofunfoldingof panels: which have: been cut on thefold, as: was heretofore? the; custom whenthe panels were out along the length of the tubular fabric,- is eliminated. Thus; as shown in Fig. 4,- a-seriesof central panels; I0: may becut from tubular knit mate-rial such as 40 crosswise of the material by a series of spaced cuts across the wales of" the fabric to provide transversely cut edges 42:; t3, adjacent. panels being formed in end-to-end fashion as: shown, sothat the portion oi the panel whicmwilli fornr the front of the garment is cut alternately from adjacent one edge and from adjacent the other edge of tubular material 40. Side panels I2 and I4 are cut from tubular knit material lengthwise thereof as shown in Fig. 5 to form vertical side panel edges and 41 of panel I2, and 46 and 48 of panel I4 extending walewise of the fabric. In assembling; the. garment; the; transversely cut edges 42, 4 3 of panel I0, either in single or multiple thickness, are seamed at their lower ends 42a and 43a (Fig. 3), by lines of stitching 39 and 3|, respectively, to walewise extending front edges 45 and 46 of side panels I2 and: I4 respectively,; to form the front of the garment; The other ends 42b and 43b of transversely out edges tz and 43 of panel II] are then seamed by lines of stitching 32 and 33 to walewise extending rear edges 41 and 48, respectively, of sid'e'panels I2 and I4 to form the rear of the garment. The portions 'of transversely cut edges 42,. 43: intermediate lines. of. stitching 3i]- and 32, and. Island 3-3, respectivel-y, then cooperatewith lowerv edges. 49. and. 50, respectively, of side panels I2 and I'll to form leg openings for the garments to which. leg trim. I 8, doubled. along. the dotted lines. of Fig. 3, is attached.

As an. illustration. of the. type: of. dimension relationthat may besecured in. garments man-u factured'inz accordance with my invention, a-garment ofia type. such as. is shown in. the Le Coney Patent No. 1,937,899 having no substantialstretchability along the trunkwise medial lineof the. garment might have, in. an age 4- size, having a. relaxedwaistband circumference of. about. 18 /2 inches,v a. non-tensioned-. trunkwise. dimension L3. (Fig. 7 from thetop'of the waist-to the bottom of thecrotch of about l0-1-0 inches. The ratio of-trunkwise length to one-half. waistline circumference shown in the Le Coney drawingisas 2%,. inches. is to: 2%. inches or. 44 to 35. An 18 inch waist circumference of Le. Coney would therefiore have-atrunkwise length of. 11.6 inches. When such agarment is tensioned along its trunkwise medial line" it will. stretch under moderate. ten sion, in the case of an ordinary knit material of thetype. heretofore. used in. such. garments, to a dimension .Ldwhich. is less. than. 13. inches, asv indicated. by Fig. 7. On theother. hand, in a garment constructedin. accordance. withmy invention designed for age. isize andhaving. av waistband circumference of 18 inches and made from identicali material, a smaller nontensioned trunkwise. dimension. LI (Fig. 6 of only 9 inches readily increases. under moderate tensionto adimension L2 of something over 13 inches, asind-icated in Fig.v 6;. Thus. a prior art garment of this. age. size. has. a. non-tensioned. trunkwise dimension L31 more. than. about 89%, tobe exact) of. itstensioned'dimension. L4 whereas. the. garment. of. my invention has. a trunk line non-tensioned. dimension Iii" far less, than..80% (less. than 20%),v of. its. tensioned' dimension L2.

Whilethe. illustrated exampl'eof the dimensions above. given isv for. age-.4 size,,,the. difference be.- tween tensioned and non-tensionedlength in garments of theother usual training pantie sizes is such thatthey will conform to the requirement of. having. a. relaxed. trunkwise. length less. than 80% of tensioned trunkwise length- Since stretchability is dependent upon the particular character of the: fabric, it will be understood that this comparison involves garments; made of the usual weights of knit cotton, cotton and wool, rayon- .or other fiberrinconventional gauges.

The reduction of the non-tensioned trunkwise dimension L3 to the dimension Ll also changes the relation of the trunkwise length to the waistline circumference. In the garment illustrated in the Le Coney patent, as has been above recited, the ratio of trunkwise length to one-half waistline circumference is as 44 is to 35, i. e., the relaxed trunkwise length is greater than one half the waistline circumference. In garments manufactured in accordance with my invention, in a substantial range of sizes besides age 4 size, the non-tensioned trunkwise length Ll may be made less than one half the relaxed waistline circumference. Still the trunkwise stretchability imparts to the garment a trunkwise tensioned length substantially greater than one half the relaxed waistline circumference and equal to or greater than the tensioned length of prior art garments.

In accordance with usual practice, the plies of panel In may be made from the same or different weight knit material. Often the facing 22 is made of lighter weight, softer material cut from the same pattern.

The lateral stretchability and vertical nonstretchability retained in side panels 12 and M and secured by cutting the panels lengthwise of knit fabric 40 as shown in Fig. 4, insures a proper fit of the garment in normal standing position of the wearer.

While for convenience the above description of a garment constructed in accordance with this invention has been directed to a garment of the training pantie type, it will be understood that the novel features hereof may be incorporated in garments designed for adults. For example, the advantages of this invention have been found to apply to the construction of mens knit shorts. Again, while the invention is primarily concerned with garments of the legless type, it is contemplated that short leg portions may be added so long as they do not detract from the essential trunkwise stretchability of the garment construction as above described.

Similarly while a one-piece continuous central panel construction, whether of single or multiple thickness, is desirable, the essential functions of the garment are not necessarily departed from by the interposition of a scam in the central panel as for the purpose of changing thickess, i. e., the number of plies of material, as between front and back, for the purpose of forming a fly, or for other reason.

As will readily be understood from the description hereinbefore given, the waistband feature illustrated in the drawings and described in connection with the training pantie type of garment, may be modified in accordance with known variations of garment construction. For instance, instead of having the non-stretchable waistband l6 and elastic band confined to only a portion of the circumference of the waistline, the central panel, l may be carried to the waistline. The elastic band may then, if desired, be

carried throughout the circumference of the waistline. Or the waistline edge may be formed in whole or in part of a woven elastic tape.

I claim:

1. A legless pant type garment comprising sidepanels formed of knit material wherein the wales of the material run vertically of the garment to give lateral stretchability to the garment in said side panels, and a central panel of knit material extending from a point adjacent the waistline in front through the garment crotch to a point at least half way towards the waistline in the rear, said central panel being wider in front and In the rear than in the crotch, the wales of the material in said central panel extending laterally of the garment, lower edges of the side panels and sides of the crotch portion of the central panel co-operating to define leg openings for the garment with the central panel being seamed above said leg openings to said side panels along seams diverging upwardly from one another both in the front and in the rear along at least a substantial portion of their lengths, and the vertical medial length of the garment in relaxed condition being less than one-half the relaxed waistline length but in tensioned condition being materially greater than said one-half relaxed waistline length.

2. A legless pant type garment comprising side panels formed of knit material wherein the wales of the material run vertically of the garment to give lateral stretchability to the garment in said side panels, and a continuous single piece central panel of knit material extending from a point adjacent the waistline in front through the garment crotch to a point adjacent the waistline in the rear, said central panel being wider in front and in the rear than in the crotch, the central panel being wider along each of its upper front and rear edges than the waistline width of either side panel and the wales of the material in said central panel extending laterally of the garment to give substantial medial vertical stretchability to the garment, lower edges of the side panels and sides of the crotch portion of the central panel co-operating to define leg openings for the garment with the central panel being seamed above said, leg openings to said side panels in the front and in the rear along seams extending upwardly towards the waistline, and the vertical medial length of the garment in relaxed condition being less than one-half the relaxed waistline length but in tensioned condition being materially greater than said one-half relaxed waistline length.

HARRIET L. REDMOND.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,637,157 Osborne July 26, 1927 1,752,771 Ast Apr. 1, 1930 1,937,899 Le Coney Dec. 5, 1933 2,126,186 Friedland Aug. 9, 1938 2,341,882 Scriggins Feb. 15, 1944 

